A Quest for Healthier Eating

When Sue recently asked me to share my top tip for ageing and living well, I thought this post would be a cinch. As it turned out – not so much!

Richard and I are currently on a quest for healthier eating. So far, I have more questions than answers. In my guest post for Sue, I have shared what I have discovered along the way. All food pics are my own. They show a good sample of the types of foods that comprise our current diet.

I do hope that you’ll drop by Sue’s and add to the conversation. I would love to hear your ideas on what healthy eating tips work for you. I greatly look forward to seeing you there!

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71 Replies to “A Quest for Healthier Eating”

My goodness, healthy eating has been the theme of the day here in my corner of the blogosphere. Sue’s blog often stops me from commenting there so I’ll comment here to say I like your approach to living a healthier, balanced life via good nutrition.

Hi, Jo – That Martha Stewart’s Famous One Pot Pasta Dish (she may have added the ‘famous’ part). It’s a wonderful meal that is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. You can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09smBNps4EM

Hi, Natalie – Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on both sites. Thank you also for your kind words. I’m truly not a photographer in any way, but (to Richard’s chagrin) I LOVE taking pictures of food. 😀

We work hard on lots of variety in veggies and occasionally, maybe once a week, do a meatless. I have a brother who is a rancher and a son in law who raised pigs — it’s such good meat. Trying to convince my husband we should raise chickens. I also grow a good portion of our veggies and freeze or preserve lots so feel that’s a positive as well. I try to keep my sugar content down and processed food is very rare at our house but home made cookies for my tall skinny guy are always in the cookie jar. So it’s about balance.

Hi, BernieLynne – Thanks so much for stopping by. I completely agree about balance. Growing and preserving some of your own food is awesome — I would love to do more of that. And, I’d never say no to a homemade cookie!

Hi Donna, I love your feature photo with all of the colours and incorporating tasty looking ingredients.

Reading through the comments, I am curious about the one pot pasta dish. We often have extended family of all ages staying with us and I am always on the lookout for healthy, easy meals to feed a group (including many children.) I left a comment on Sue’s site. A informative, comprehensive post. I appreciate all of the gems. I am not too sure on the beet drink…….likely, don’t knock it until you try it? 🙂

Hi, Erica – I think that you would like the one-pot pasta dish. It’s super simple and incredibly flexible. The beetroot latte? I admit that isn’t for everyone. If you Google it you will find that it can be made in a variety of different ways. One of our local restaurants (Realm) makes a pretty decent one. 😀

Hi, Ingrid – Preparing a list of meals is a great idea. I must admit, I do tend to go day-to-day in my food planning. I love using super fresh ingredients, and being able to use up what’s onhand. I often do small shops throughout the week instead of one big weekly or bi-monthly grocery shop. I know that would not work for everyone. Luckily, we have great grocery options within walking distance.

When we’re in Phoenix, I have fabulous grocery stores nearby filled with fresh produce, and like you, tend to go to the store frequently. Considering I only have a 6 cubic foot fridge in my RV, that works perfectly. It’s when we’re traveling that I have to be a better planner.

Hi, Donna,
I’m on my way over and with good reason. I’m starting my second week of Nutrisystem. The sedentary lifestyle of knee replacement recovery caught up with me and my clothes are very snug (hate it when that happens). I need to eat healthier when my program ends and looking for suggestions. Thanks, Joe.

Hi, Joe – Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope that your recovery is going well. I’m usually good with sticking with sometihing…until my routine is changed. Then all bets are off! Sending good wishes that you get back to your full regular routine soon.

I’m just starting to recover from the cold from hell. Too much brain fog to write anything that would make sense. Stay healthy, my friend… and continue to eat healthy food. This cold that is going around is a doozy.

Really good advice and what mouth-watering pictures! So many good things to eat. My husband and I are vegetarians, and although we like treats as much as the next person, we always eat lots of fruit and veggies.

Hi Donna, thank you so much for being my guest and contributing to the Ageing Well, Living Well series. Your post has prompted many comments which is great to see, as it shows not only your popularity as a blogger but that many of us are very mindful of our health and well being as we age. Thank you, my friend. xx

Thanks, Sue. I’ve enjoyed being your guest and having the nudge to write about this topic. I’ve learned a great deal from the comments and have greatly appreciated the dialogue. Thank you for providing us with this interactive, thought-provoking series. I look forward to continuing to follow it!

Donna, great tips here and there is so much to be gained by eating healthily yet it seems hard for many to do so. Any encouragement is a bonus! Knowledge is power and it is good to learn about foods. I’ve been a vegetarian since birth ( I couldn’t tolerate meat) and I’m at last not in the minority. As very young I would only eat raw vegetables, fresh fruit, bread and pasta. I love your idea of growing some food and we always have a few pots of tomatoes, some carrots, potatoes, broad beans! They taste like sweets when homegrown!

Hi, Annika – Sounds like you were well ahead of your time. I agree that it is much easier now to find foods to meet our specific diets (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc). I love that you are growing some of your own foods and equate them to sweets. You have a very admirable attitude toward eating. Thank you so much for sharing this!

What an informative post, Donna! I find it difficult to keep up with all the new research findings and get very confused! 😀 We have cut out a lot of the fatty and sugary foods we used to eat and now eat lots of vegetables each week. We are using our steamer regularly which cooks food so quickly! We also consider food-miles and try to eat food produced/grown locally. Having just left the EU we know that certain foods will become difficult to buy and expensive in the weeks and months to come so we are adapting our diet in preparation!

Hi, Clare – I use my vegetable steamer frequently as well. I absolutely love it! My husband and I also try to eat as much locally grown food as we can. Our youngest son also lives in England. Hopefully, certain foods there will not become ridiculously expensive because of Brexit. It is wise that you are now preparing just in case!

I am returning with #MLSTL and sharing on SM. An excellent post with gems I have already incorporated into my week. Your post is one of the more realistic articles I have read on food and diet. The media and the ‘experts’ share a great deal of conflicting information to digest. (my pun was not intended:) xx

I am on that quest too. One for weight and also for energy. I read it’s good to up your vegetable intake so with the hard to use veges in the delivery box, I cook them up and have them for breakfast somedays… via #MLSTL

Good tips, thanks for posting. I am also working very hard to change the way I eat. I have always eaten pretty healthy, but sabotaged myself with too much sugar. Working very hard to eliminate as much of this ingredient as I can. #MLSTL

Thanks so much for stopping by. I agree with you completely. We can get so many of our healthy eating ducks in a row, just to lose sight of another important aspect. It’s quite the balancing act. But every step that we take is a step toward better health!

Donna, you’ve done it again — you’ve covered so many good points in your wonderful post on a quest for healthier eating and left very few stones unturned.

Not everyone can or should be a vegan or vegetarian so my approach is more along the flexitarian spectrum. I love that idea and actually had never heard of it but I’ve been following a similar path just based on paying attention to my intuition and listening to the needs of my body.

You are right – our lab tests can tell us if we going in right or wrong direction and give us a starting off point! I’m glad you mentioned that! See, no stone unturned.

Sure I splurge now and then as I’m not a saint but my mainstay is real, authentic, simple food. Sometimes my breakfast or lunch is half an avocado on sprouted wheat toast with tomato, lettuce, cucumber, maybe a slice of cheese or egg as I love protein — often it depends on what’s in my refrigerator. Or a breakfast might be a smoothie with the kitchen sink thrown in, or as simple as apple slices with almond butter. I love salads for lunch filled with copious amounts of vegetables and for warm food, I love potatoes, vegetables, quinoa. I don’t eat a lot of red meat but have nothing against it. It simply doesn’t always agree with me. When I eat chicken, I try to go for free range, anti-biotic hormone free.

I listen to the needs of my body and we are all unique. What works for me doesn’t work for the next person. But I do agree that pursuing a more plant based diet is a positive. I strive to control portions too and not get second helpings – not always easy especially when an Italian in-law dishes up home made lasagna —my idea of comfort food perfect for a winter evening.

I just try to make sure I’m eating real, whole food as fresh as possible as often as I can. . I also Love keeping frozen organic vegetables in the freezer to pair with soba noodles when I’m in a pinch (I limit white pasta). I’m finding all kinds of cool plant based high protein pastas these days and I even have my white pasta loving daughter eating these new pastas. One has to get used to the taste and the texture , but for me, they are a healthy way of indulging the pasta craving! I’m eating some lentil pasta right now ! 😄

I must be doing okay as I lost over ten pounds since retiring two years ago and it’s not only due to eating healthy most of the time, it’s adding in extra doses of exercise.

I always love reading your posts, Donna – you make everything, even a photo of a wrap, so interesting and enticing!

Hi, Susan – I always look forward to your posts and your comments. It’s the next best thing to sitting in the Daily Grind with you, engrossed in conversation (or sneaking in meaningful tidbits in between yoga class). I agree that our bodies are unique and foods that work well for one person, may not suit the next. That’s one of the reasons that I like Julie Daniluk’s anti-inflammatory cookbook. She offers a healthy meat based meal plan and a plant-based one side-by-side, recognizing different needs for different folks.
Hope all is well there!

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Prior to retirement, I lived and worked in Beijing China for fourteen years (Middle School Principal/Deputy Director at The Western Academy of Beijing). Leaving international life behind, my husband and I retired to Vancouver Island in June 2015. To document both this transition and our new adventures, ‘Retirement Reflections’ was born. I hope that you enjoy these reflections, and will be willing to share your own.